Self Reliant As a Trucker

Are you totally self reliant? Life as a trucker requires you to be. Sure you will be given your pick up and delivery information but after that you are on your own. No one will call you to make sure you left on time, nor will you get calls to make sure you're waking up when your alarm goes off in the mornings to your destination.

Self reliant means that you can use your mind, common sense, information and resources available to get done what is expected.

You don't need to be hand held or micro-managed.

Example: I've talked to a guy in the parking lot saying he had his load, just waiting for a receiver to answer to get directions.

He had the company name, address and limited time.

Could have just put the address in Google, then determined the route. Also could have took off driving and called again in a few hours to verify. Even the suggestion fell on deaf ears.

When you become a trucker you need to be responsible and dependable enough to handle the tasks you are given. For your own success you also need to be able to communicate in a tactful manner if you can not legally do but that is a different topic. :-)

Freedom of the open road and less structure is part of the trucking lifestyle and it's what drivers love most. However, this can also be crippling for those who are not self reliant or lack the ability to think, problem solve or make good decisions over the road.

Be totally self reliant, otherwise you will be just another bad big truck driver.

Excuses like...I forgot, I couldn't wake up, my watch battery died (which actually happened to me once. It was true but still not acceptable), these are all ridiculous excuses that some drivers use as a crutch for their repeated tardiness.

These excuses will not cross YOUR mind though, because you are a cut above the rest.

You are going to be a professional truck driver.

Are You Totally Self Reliant
Disadvantages of Becoming a Trucker